Blindfold chess is a way to play chess, whereby play is conducted without the players having sight of the positions of the pieces, or any physical contact with them. Moves are communicated via a recognized chess notation. Considered miraculous for centuries, it is now accepted that any strong player today can play at least one game blindfolded.^[1] In simultaneous blindfold play, an intermediary usually relays the moves between the players. This article is about the Western board game. ... Chess notation is the term for systems that record the moves made during a game of chess and several have been developed. ... A simultaneous exhibition (often abbreviated to simul) is an event where chess masters play multiple chess games at a time with selected players (usually below master strength). ...

Before chess

The first written commentary to a predecessor of blindfold chess appears in Buddha's mild rebuke to monks. For other uses, see Monk (disambiguation). ...

"Monks were--as some ascetics--addicted to such idle pursuits such as eight row or ten row chess, chess in the air (mental chess), hopscotch, spillikins, dicing, ball games, guessing letters, hand pictures, guessing thoughts, mimicking deformities, playing with toy ploughs; the ascetic Gotama refrains from such idle pursuits".^[2]

Of course, chess as we know it was not invented until several centuries later.^[3]

Early history

Blindfold chess was first played quite early on in the history of chess, with perhaps the first game being played by Sa'id bin Jubair (665–714) in the Middle East. In Europe, playing chess blindfolded became popular as a means of handicapping a chess master when facing a weaker opponent, or of simply displaying one's superior abilities. The first known blindfold event in Europe took place in Florence in 1266.^[1] The great French player Philidor was able to play up to three blindfold games simultaneously with great success, with newspapers highlighting his achievement, having taught himself to visualize the board while in bed at night when he had trouble sleeping. Paul Morphy held in 1858 a blindfold exhibition against the eight strongest players in Paris with the stunning result of 6 wins and 2 draws. Other early masters of blindfold chess were Louis Paulsen, Joseph Henry Blackburne (he played up to 16 simultaneous blindfold games) and the first world champion Wilhelm Steinitz, who played in Dundee 1867 six simultaneous blindfold games (three wins, three draws). It was seen by these masters as a good source of income. This article is about the Western board game. ... Sa’īd bin Jubayr (665-714) (Arabic: ‎), also known as AbÅ« Muhammad, was originally from Kufa, in modern-day Iraq. ... This article is about the Western board game. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Florence (or Firenze, Florentia and Fiorenza) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany, and of the province of Florence. ... François-André Danican Philidor (September 1, 1726 - August 31, 1795) was a French chess player and composer. ... Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884), The Pride and Sorrow of Chess, was an American chess player. ... Year 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the capital of France. ... Louis Paulsen (1833–1891) was a German chess player. ... Joseph Henry Blackburne. ... Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz (May 17, 1836, Prague–August 12, 1900, New York) was a Jewish-Austrian-American chess player and the first official world chess champion. ... For other uses, see Dundee (disambiguation). ... Year 1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

20th century history

As time went by the records for blindfold exhibitions increased. In 1900 Pillsbury played 20 games simultaneously in Philadelphia; not long after having attempted the unusual feat of playing fifteen chess and fifteen checkers games simultaneously (the record for blindfold checkers being 28 simultaneous games). The Czech player Richard Réti and Russian World Champion Alexander Alekhine were the next to significantly further the record, with Alekhine playing 28 players in February of 1925 with the impressive result of 22 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses. In the same year, Réti bettered this record by playing 29 players simultaneously in São Paulo and amusingly commented on his poor memory after leaving his briefcase behind after the event. Harry Nelson Pillsbury (December 5, 1872 - July, 1906), was United States Chess Champion from 1898 until his death in 1906. ... For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ... This article is about the Western board game. ... starting position on a 10×10 draughts board Draughts, also known as checkers, is a group of mental sport board games between two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over the enemys pieces. ... Richard Réti (1889 – 1929) was a Czechoslovakian chess player, although he was born in what was then Hungary. ... This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves. ... This article is about the city. ...

George Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937, in Edinburgh, by playing 34 chess games simultaneously while blindfolded, winning 24 games and losing 10, over a period of 13 hours. The record was included in the Guinness Book of Records and is generally accepted as the world record to this day.^[1] Later, both Miguel Najdorf and János Flesch claimed to have broken that record, but their efforts were not properly monitored the way that Koltanowski's was. Najdorf's first record in Rosario, Argentina was against 40 opponents (+36 =1 -3)^[4] and was organised in an effort to gain sufficient publicity to communicate to his family that he was still alive, as he had remained in Argentina after travelling from his native Poland to compete in the 1939 Chess Olympiad. He increased this record to 45 opponents in São Paulo in 1947, with the result of 39 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses.^[5] However, he had access to the scoresheets, and there were multiple opponents per board.^[1] Koltanowski claimed that he could have managed 100 games under those conditions.^[6] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ... Suresh Joachim, minutes away from breaking the ironing world record at 55 hours and 5 minutes, at Shoppers World, Brampton. ... Miguel Najdorf (born as Mieczysław Najdorf; 1910 - 1997) was a Polish-Argentine chess player. ... János Flesch (1933–1983) was an International Master of chess who was born in Hungary. ... Rosario is the largest city of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. ... The Chess Olympiad is a chess event which has been officially organised by FIDE since 1927 and takes place in even years. ...

The last increase in the record was claimed by the Hungarian Janos Flesch in Budapest in 1960, playing 52 opponents and winning 31 games, with 3 draws and 18 losses. However, this record attempt has been somewhat sullied by the fact that Flesch was permitted to verbally recount the scores of the games in progress. It also took place over a remarkably short period of time, around five hours, and included many short games.^[6] For other uses, see Budapest (disambiguation). ...

There have been no serious attempt to increase the record since then, due to lack of interest in mere numbers.^[7]

One other notable blindfold record was set in 1960 by Koltanowski in San Francisco, when he played 56 consecutive blindfold games at a rate of 10 seconds a move. The exhibition lasted 9 hours with the result of 50 wins and 6 losses.^[7] Koltanowski's specialty was conducting a Blindfold Knight's Tour on boards of up to 192 squares. This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... An open knights tour of a chessboard The Knights tour as solved by The Turk, a chess-playing machine hoax. ...

Health concerns

While blindfold chess has been recommended in moderation by many sources as a method of increasing one's playing strength, simultaneous blindfold exhibitions were officially banned in 1930 in the USSR as they were deemed to be a health hazard. Mikhail Botvinnik also warned against it. Blindfold players have reported that it is more tiring than regular play, even if faster time controls are used.^[1] State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (IPA: ; Russian: ) (August 17 [O.S. August 4] 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Champion of chess. ...

Modern status

Today there are Blindfold Chess Tournaments held throughout the year, with the highest profile event being the Melody Amber Tournament, held in Monte Carlo. This event is partly funded by the billionaire Correspondence Chess Champion Joop van Oosterom and attracts many of the world's chess elite to compete in unique circumstances. Of the modern day players, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Alexei Shirov and Alexander Morozevich have proven themselves to be particularly strong at blindfold chess, being alternating winners of the Amber Tournaments between 1996 and 2006. The Melody Amber chess tournament, which uniquely combines blind chess and speed chess is an annual invitation-only event for some of the worlds best players. ... Monte Carlo is a very wealthy section of the city-state of Monaco known for its casino, gambling, beaches, glamour, and sightings of famous people. ... Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon. ... Joop van Oosterom is a Dutch billionare and chess enthusiast. ... Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (Russian: ) (born June 25, 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster and the World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2007. ... This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves. ... Alexei Shirov Alexei Shirov (Aleksejs Širovs, Алексе́й Широв) (born July 4, 1972 in Riga, Latvia), is one of the top chess grandmasters in the world today. ... Alexander Morozevich Alexander Morozevich (Александр Морозе́вич) (born July 18, 1977) is a Russian chess player. ...

See also

• Kriegspiel (chess)

Playing Kriegspiel on ICC internet server. ...

References

ChessBase is the dominant commercial database program for storing and searching records of games of chess. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 74th day of the year (75th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Kenneth Whyld (March 6, 1926 - July 11, 2003) was a British chess author and researcher, best known as the co-author (with David Hooper) of the Oxford Companion to Chess, the standard single-volume chess reference work in English. ... David Hooper (born September 21, 1972 in Nashville, Tennesse) is an American author, music marketing expert, and radio show host. ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ...

External links

• "Blindfold Chess" by Danny Kopec
• "George Koltanowski"
• Canadian blindfold chess timeline
• "Mnemonics approach"
• Blindfold Chess - Features & Impact